1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an attachment for a laundry appliance and a laundry appliance which includes an attachment.
2. Description of Related Art
Laundry appliances, such as a laundry washer and a laundry dryer are commonly used in households throughout the world. Depending upon the type of laundry appliance, a number of water hoses, water drains, power cords and/or gas lines must be connected to the laundry appliance in order for the laundry appliance to operate. As a result thereof, the laundry appliance is typically spaced apart from the wall to allow space for connection of the laundry appliance to the water source, water drain, gas line, and/or power cord.
Almost everyone who has recently moved a laundry appliance has discovered the treasures which fall into the space between the laundry appliance and the wall. In fact, the space between the laundry appliance and the wall seems to attract items, such as socks and
Further, most laundry appliances lack adequate space for storing laundry supplies or clothing during the transfer of the clothing between the washer and dryer. Moreover, most laundry appliances lack space to store wet clothing during presoaking with a stain remover.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device and method for reducing the number of objects which fall behind a laundry washer and/or a laundry dryer. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a device for conveniently storing laundry supplies and/or wet clothes near the laundry washer and laundry dryer. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide shelves for a laundry washer and a laundry dryer which are extremely easy to install and durable.
The present invention is directed to an attachment for a laundry appliance which satisfies these objectives. As described in detail below, the attachment includes a shelf, a first contact surface and a second contact surface. The first contact surface and the second contact surface securely retain the shelf to the laundry appliance. Best of all, the attachment easily attaches to most laundry appliances without drilling holes or modifying a wall of the structure used to house the laundry appliance or the laundry appliances.
As used herein, the term xe2x80x9claundry appliancexe2x80x9d refers to and means a laundry washer and/or a laundry dryer.
The shelf covers a gap formed between the wall and the laundry appliance, inhibits clothing, such as socks from falling between the gap, and provides convenient storage for laundry supplies, loose buttons, change, and/or wet clothes. Typically, a shelf having a width of between approximately six (6) inches to twelve (12) inches and a length of between approximately twenty-one (21) inches to thirty-one (31) inches is adequate for covering the gap.
The first contact surface and a second contact surface are secured to the shelf. The first contact surface is adapted to engage a portion of an appliance front side while the second contact surface is adapted to engage a portion of an appliance rear side to selectively retain the shelf to the laundry appliance. Typically, the laundry appliance includes a control panel and the first contact surface is adapted to engage a portion of the appliance front side and the control panel and the second contact surface is adapted to engage the appliance rear side below the control panel.
Preferably, the attachment includes a third contact surface for securely attaching the shelf to the laundry appliance. As provided herein, the third contact surface engages an appliance top side and the control panel. In the embodiments provided herein, the first contact surface and the second contact surface are substantially parallel, while the third contact surface is substantially perpendicular with the first contact surface and the second contact surface.
Typically, the first contact surface, the second contact surface and the third contact surface are positioned on a bracket. In the embodiments provided herein, the attachment includes two brackets to solidly retain the shelf to the laundry appliance. At least one of the brackets can include a flexible support arm which connects the shelf to the second contact surface and allows the second contact surface to rotate relative to the shelf. This feature allows the brackets to dampen impact onto the shelf and handle additional loads.
Additionally, in one embodiment, a lateral distance between the first contact surface and the second contact surface can be selectively adjustable so that the attachment can be attached to laundry appliances having different sized control panels. For this embodiment, the first contact surface and the second contact surface are substantially parallel and positioned on substantially parallel planes. As used herein, the term xe2x80x9clateral distancexe2x80x9d shall mean and refer to the distance between the parallel planes. Typically, the lateral distance between the first contact surface and the second contact surface can be selectively adjusted between approximately four (4) inches and twelve (12) inches.
The invention also includes a method for inhibiting an object from falling between the gap formed between the laundry appliance and the wall of the structure. The method includes positioning a shelf proximate the gap and attaching the shelf to the laundry appliance with the first contact surface, the second contact surface, and the third contact surface.
Importantly, the unique design of the brackets allows the attachment to easily and selectively be attached to the laundry appliance. Further, the shelf effectively covers the gap formed between the wall and the laundry appliance. This inhibits clothing from falling into the gap and provides convenient storage for laundry supplies and/or wet clothes.